(April 29, 2012 at 10:43 am)FallentoReason Wrote: I have reasons for believing that the four canonical Gospels weren't written by Apostles at all. Some of the evidence comes directly from some of the Gospels. But the reason why I can't readily accept the authorship of the Gospels from what Church tradition tells us is because it can't be verified.
There once was a maze inside a pyramid built by the Aztecs. The explorer that discovered the maze tells you that there is a statue made of gold on the other side of the maze. Being a fellow explorer yourself, you want to go see this thing with your own eyes. So you set out into the maze to try and get to the other side. In the end you give up because you couldn't find a path that would take you to the other side. So, how did this explorer know of this statue? You can't confirm or deny what he told you.
Church tradition tells us that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote their own Gospels. So far there isn't a single path of evidence that will take you to this conclusion and therefore verify the claim that the Church has made.
Centuries have passed and the explorer and you are long dead. A new generation of explorers have taken on the challenge of being able to get to the other side of the maze and seeing the statue. They know of The Explorer that discovered the maze and knew about the golden statue, so it must be there.
It seems as though the Church was the only body of people that knew of the authorships somehow. Because it seems as though there is no path one can take to 'get to the other side', it is in fact impossible to verify the authorship of the Gospels. Then why should we take this claim seriously?
Have you seen the golden statue?
Giving up so soon?What of those who find what it is that they ask and seek for?
Along the lines of your analogy.. What do you say to all of those who have found the golden statue you could not find?
I have found it, and point to the path I took to find it. the problem is that you do not seem to want to go down that path because of all that you think you will have to give up to get to the end.
The bible is just one part of a bigger picture. God offers to give you direct instruction and reassurance personally if you only meet Him on His terms.
